Oando PLC, a leading indigenous oil company has just announced at The Exchange that it has secured a NGN 94.6 billion facility provided by ten leading financial institutions in Nigeria.

According to the company, the financing, coordinated by the mandated Lead Arranger, Access Bank Plc, is a 5 year Medium Term Note (MTN) at Nibor + 200 bps as a crucial part of our strategic restructuring plans.

Commenting on the transaction, Mr. Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC, said “In a bid to return to profitability in 2016, I am happy to announce the successful completion of restructuring our overall debt profile into a N94.6 Billion Medium Term, 5 year consolidated facility, with a 3 year moratorium on principal. This is the pivotal leg in our Group restructuring plan of Growth; via the Upstream business, Deleverage; via the disposal of $350 million in assets’ value in 2016 and our return to Profitability in 2016, driven by our dollar earning oil export & trading activities. The company now stands diversified with higher weighted dollar denominated earnings, an optimised and restructured balance sheet with lower cost of capital and longer tenors.

With the upturn in the global oil prices to levels above $50 per barrel, we now look forward to the successes of 2016, having ridden out the storm”. The institutions involved in the financing are; Access Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Fidelity Bank, Keystone Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, UBA Bank, Union Bank and Zenith Bank. The transaction further signifies the solid commitment from Nigerian banking institutions to support sustained growth and development of the Nigerian oil and gas sector in these trying times. Oando PLC will continue to exercise strong financial discipline in meeting obligations and our debt covenants.